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Aspiration vs reality in workplace mental health – guest blog by Lou Harris #HWBAssociateNinja

Aspiration vs reality in workplace mental health – guest blog by Lou Harris #HWBAssociateNinja

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Thank you to everyone who supported my first ever blog, it has inspired me to continue to writing and sharing my journey in the hope will help others to reach out and seek support if they need it and encourage leaders and managers to take action around mental health.  I recently read a report by Business in the Community.  They found a gap between aspiration and reality for workplace mental health:

  • 58% of senior leaders and board members think their organisation supports its staff but:
  • 42% of employees with no managerial responsibility believe that their organisation supports its staff and:
  • 20% of employees feel that their manager is not concerned about their wellbeing (BITC Mental Health at work report 2018).

In my experience…

Having spent the last 16 years working as and alongside managers and leaders I have been reflecting on this and what it was that helped me when I was struggling with my mental health while in work and crucially came to the conclusion that leadership is absolutely key because it creates the workplace culture.  I personally:

  • Felt able to disclose and discuss my mental health with my manager and other senior leaders in the organisation (which being honest was slightly scary – but provided a firm basis of understanding and trust when I did need support)
  • Felt able (for a period of time) to manage my mental health through support that was easily accessible and available. Being able to access counselling within 2 days was one factor that enabled me to continue in my role for a further 6 months (My wait for Counselling from the NHS was 4 months for computer based and 8 months for face to face and this is not a criticism in anyway, I will always be grateful for the services and support I have received)
  • Retained my dignity and respect from the continued belief I received in me as a person

And this was created by leaders in the organisation.  Because when you have leaders:

  • who demonstrate time and commitment to wellbeing and mental health
  • who make themselves available and accessible to talk to about it
  • who lead and champion wellbeing and mental health initiatives
  • who by their own behaviours lead by example and show it is acceptable and more than that important that you have a work life balance
  • who ensure that there is a focus on prevention and support is available 
  • who are aware of warning signs, confident to talk about mental health and aware of and can access organisational support available
  • who genuinely care because they ask you how you are doing and listen to you

…. it makes a huge difference

….it creates a culture of openness, acceptance and trust. 

This may not come easy to some of us and if I am being honest it didn’t to me (I wasn’t great at the work life balance – my own decision, drive and perfectionism) …. that is why I believe it’s so important that we:

  • Increase awareness and understanding of mental health across the whole organisation (not just senior leaders and boards)
  • Help develop leaders and managers confidence to be able to have discussions about Mental Health

So, on National Stress Awareness day, what can you commit to doing in your organisation to close the gap between aspiration and reality? 

Identity and wellbeing; the impact of transition – guest blog by Wyn Jones #HWBAssociateNinja

Identity and wellbeing; the impact of transition – guest blog by Wyn Jones #HWBAssociateNinja

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Who are you, who are you, who are you?

This is a familiar chant at football matches aimed at the opposition fans and one of the few repeatable chants! Over the past 12 months, I have had cause and opportunity to reflect – who am I and therefore how would I define myself?

In the past 12 months, I have changed roles, organisation and moved from leading 60 people across two teams to be a lone worker and subject matter expert. This meant moving from a large acute trust to an independent regional role in a national organisation. At times I know I have struggled to adapt especially as my impact is less tangible and less immediate than before.

So, who am I?

Well, it’s complicated; but that helps because I am not then defined by one situation, role or “thing.” If I defined myself solely by my previous role, I would have felt even more lost than I have been.  Now in my 50’s I have developed into a runner, or at least I run regularly; so, I define myself as an old, slow runner (see previous blogs). Currently, I am hobbling around having damaged my foot, just walking in a shop! It is frustrating but it’s not catastrophic because I am not just a runner.  In my 20’s when I was not able to play rugby due to injury it felt like a disaster until I could play again. In looking back, at the time I can see that this was because playing rugby was a large part of my self-definition, although I did not know this at the time. This appears to be one of the reasons why many professional players struggle to adapt when they have to retire; the loss of identity.

One of the big advantages of my new role is that I travel more, and I use the opportunity to listen to podcasts, several of which have helped me think about a range of personal and management issues, including this one of self-identity.

What I’ve learnt about me

I think one of the reasons for my struggles in the new role was that I had been comfortable in my previous one and it had taken up too much permanence in my identity. As a result, I had not prepared for a move. Having worked for 30 years, mainly in the NHS, I should have been more prepared as individual opportunities and organisational change are normally “just around the corner” and after seven years in the single organisation, a move was likely for one reason or another. It was a mistake to get comfortable, but I am human, and mistakes are allowed. I have learnt from it and I am moving on trying not to beat myself up about making mistakes. This is another lesson from the podcasts. This is not to say I have got it right; I am a work in progress, so I have to regularly remind myself that mistakes are allowed.

Multiple me

So now my self-identity is more fluid, especially in terms of my work. I remain an older, generally grumpy, mildly geekish, Welshman, husband, father, co-owned by a dog, with an interest in workforce development, sport, reading and music.  Hopefully, with rest, I will return to dog walking before adding an even slower runner back into my identity. 

Missing the Gorge; an insight into being present and noticing in the moment – guest blog by Wyn Jones #HWBAssociateNinja

Missing the Gorge; an insight into being present and noticing in the moment – guest blog by Wyn Jones #HWBAssociateNinja

Posted on by hwbinspiration

Previously I have written about the personal benefits of running and how it gives me the opportunity to reflect on life, work and other pressures.  Being competitive with myself I found I was running to go faster and then check my running app to review my data.  Looking at other people’s run data I noticed they had deliberately slow training runs and several other people were stopping to take pictures on their runs which makes following them through the app even more interesting. 

One day I went for what I call a “head run” just to clear my mind and help my mental health. For the first time I had no planned route, no target for my pace and did not listen to any music.  I really enjoyed the run and enjoyed looking around me.  It was, even for me, a slow run but I was very happy with it and whilst reflecting afterwards I was reminded of a story I found years ago online called “missing the gorge.”

The story goes along the lines of three westerners decided to walk through a gorge whilst on holiday in Thailand.  They decided to walk it in a quick time.  Whilst on the walk they pass a group of Buddhist nuns one of whom calls out to say, “you are missing the gorge.” The writer is taken aback and asks the nun what she means; he has cuts and bruises to prove he is not “missing the gorge”.  The nun says she could tell that they were westerns by the way they were rushing and asks him to sit down. Once he has sat down, she asks him to close his eyes and to listen and to smell. He slowly begins to notice that he can hear birds, the flow of water, the wind in the trees and starts to smell the plants and flowers. He notices the heat of the rock he is sitting on. 

He thanks the nun for the insight and he starts to follow his colleagues who have not stopped.  However, the nun makes a further comment which stops him in his tracks – “I hope this is not a symbol of your life!” 

For most of my runs I will choose a musical playlist to fit my mood and look to achieve a certain time or pace, but for some runs I will not have any music playing and do not have a target pace.  This can help me to listen to my breathing and think about my running technique, or I will consciously think about a work problem or situation.  However, quite often I will deliberately not focus on work, but try to observe and enjoy my surroundings.

I know I am competitive with myself and as a data geek I am a slave to my performance and reports from my running app but before or after and (very) occasionally during a run I will now stop and take a photograph and load it on my app. I realised that I became “a bit obsessed” with my times, so recently I have deliberately run more slowly, concentrating on something else and not pressurising myself to achieve certain targets. 

Adjusting and being in the flow….

For my last half marathon, I did not aim for a specific time, I tried to concentrate on the course and to enjoy myself, which I did.  I did not achieve my best time, but it was my most enjoyable half marathon to date.

I regularly participate in Park Runs and always try to take and upload a photo at each one, especially at my local Park Run so I can see the impact of the changing seasons on the woods and on the number of layers I wear; clearly I feel the cold.  

I know running is not for everyone, but we all need some time to reflect and to observe our respective gorge. I know of friends who knit and as they are accomplished at it, they can relax and use that time to reflect.  Other friends use swimming or yoga for the same purpose. 

Finding what works for you

It is about finding what works for you and practicing it.  It will not always work and at first it might be hard, but the investment of time into yourself will be worth it. Importantly I have found that you should not be critical of yourself, keep trying, everyone struggles with a new task or skill, so enjoy the experience of reflecting, learning and improving.

Lived experience blog by Lou Harris #HWBAssociateNinja

Lived experience blog by Lou Harris #HWBAssociateNinja

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Caveat – I agonised over writing this blog. How to pitch it.  How much to include about the really difficult times I have had. Do I add humour into what is an absolutely horrible place I have found myself.  

If I was writing this blog one month, 6 months, 1.5 years ago it would have been totally different, I wouldn’t have been able to include any hope or see any positives from my situation.  But the way I have written this reflects the place I am currently in and I wanted to be myself (something which my illness has I feel prevented for a long time) and if possible  give other people hope that things can and will get better and that you can take positives from a difficult period in your life.  My approach is not to make light of mine or anyone else’s experience of mental illness, but it is a genuine account of how I feel about it currently…the unexpected and turbulent nature of my mental illness may make me feel differently were I to write this again on another day.   

So, after agonising some more (possibly due to my illness) I have decided to go with the first version I wrote of this blog – this one – as  it includes a chink of my personality,  which is slowly creeping back.  

Hopefully this caveat also gives you some insight into how my mind works at the moment – check, double check, triple check, check again, worry, worry some more, apologise in advance  before or incase I upset someone , give a full justification and explanation for what I am about to do incase someone doesn’t like it……which hopefully I have now done! So, after that  tiresome cycle which is part of my everyday life at the minute,  here goes: 

Today is World Mental Health Day, a great day to take positive action and start to look after our mental health and wellbeing. That’s what I did nearly a year ago, when at the age of 43 due to chronic and debilitating anxiety I resigned from my Managing Directors job.  

This wasn’t part of my life plan by the way, a couple of weeks before I resigned, I went on holiday and started to keep a diary and I wrote:

“Well I made it after a week on the medication (Sertraline – anti-depressants that is) shakes, feeling sick, constantly yawning and looking an off grey colour, I am on the plane to Greece. Kefalonia to be exact. I didn’t think I would make it, I did need to take two days off work with the side effects but I left in the hope that after another week I will feel better again and be able to cope with everyday life which if I am being honest hasn’t been easy for at least one and a half years now”. 

Little did I know at the time that this would be the start of which I can honestly say has been a roller coaster of a journey for which I haven’t and may never reach a destination. It’s taken a very long time, various forms of therapy, coaching, medication, and some very very low points however I am starting to learn to live with the unexpected and turbulent THING called anxiety. One year on I have been reflecting on my journey, what has helped and the positives I have taken from it (my mum has always said you have to find the positives in everything) so here we go:

I learnt to be in the moment – when I really wasn’t feeling well, I just wasn’t present. I walked around in a daze and literally lost days, weeks and months of my life. I didn’t want to spend time with anyone, I didn’t notice the world and people around me and hid away in my own little bubble. The first thing I really noticed again were the birds singing, I started to listen and sing along to music again (well only on my own I wouldn’t inflict that on anyone else!). I even started to notice the rain on my windows which reminded me of happy memories when I was young and used to go camping (yes, we were one of the  posh ones with a touring caravan (hence the windows) and yes it did seem to always rain). 

I learnt new skills – when I was working my regular 60 hour week, I just didn’t have time or capacity in my brain to think about trying something new. While it has been a slow process, with time I have felt like doing more and have learnt some useful (well some more than others) skills. For example:

  • Cooking – my repertoire now extends past the obligatory chilli much to the delight of my partner who usually did all the cooking
  • Internet buying and selling – now this is an interesting one, it’s been a great way to declutter and recycle. However, what I quickly learnt was that just like when you did a car boot as a teenager you have to try really hard not to be offended at the frankly rude offers people give you for your most prized and loved possessions.  
  • Dog grooming – unfortunately, there have been some down sides to this, Indy my beloved pooch no longer looks like a Bedlington terrier, I couldn’t quite get the top knot right (do a google search on Bedlington terrier!) and we did have a mishap with a floppy ear in the early days

I learnt to love exercise and be more active – I never thought I would say this after never stepping foot in a gym until the age of 42.  I no longer get a strop on at the thought of the gym and prioritise everything and anything else instead of going! The impact that exercise and in particular cycling has had on my mental health has literally been lifesaving and I think I may be one of the minority who actually gets value for money out of their membership.

I made new friends and strengthened relationships with others and my family. The response I have had from people when I have talked about my mental health has been amazing, from the girl at the gym who I talked too and never knew her name, to colleagues I worked with in the past to the relentless belief and support from my family and friends. My biggest learning – people don’t stop loving you for no longer being a Managing Director they loved you and continue to for being Louise. My job no longer defines who I am, and with that knowledge comes  self-acceptance and more meaningful relationships.

I gave something back – I never had the energy to do anything other than work. However, with more time on my hands I was able to climb Mount Snowdon (think I underestimated the word mountain before I did it!). I also had time to train to do 50 and 75-mile bike rides. And the added bonus? It gave me a purpose and a tremendous sense of wellbeing to give something back to some fantastic charities.  

As I was writing this, I thought AHA (not in the sense of the 80’s pop band)… these are all part of the Five Ways to Wellbeing. Whilst we may not immediately associate them with recovery from mental illness they totally are.

We all need to look after our mental health and wellbeing whether we have a mental health problem or not. So, on World Mental Health day, why not pledge to start to look after your mental health and wellbeing? It may bring you some unexpected surprises.

There are lots of useful tips and practical steps you can take to improve and maintain your mental health and wellbeing. The links below are just a few examples, including the including the Every Mind Matters website launched yesterday:

https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/improve-mental-wellbeing/

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/tips-for-everyday-living/wellbeing/?ctaId=/get-involved/world-mental-health-day/slices/wellbeing/#.XZHNfy-ZPOQ

Work Life Balance Week 7-11 Oct 19 – My unbalanced diary by Claire Harris

Work Life Balance Week 7-11 Oct 19 – My unbalanced diary by Claire Harris

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I decided to complete a dairy for work life balance week, noting to what extent I was doing the 5 ways to well-being in addition to a few other other things which I know impact my well-being. For 7 days I tracked my behaviour and this is what I found.I had a good amount of social contact. I did 2 random acts of kindness, I helped a lady off the bus in London and donated to MacMillan. These acts of kindness felt good. I learned a lot, such as what extreme teaming means and how to tackle imposter experiences. I did take notice, my hydrangeas have turned an amazing deep red. My physical activity levels were quite low, a cycle and jog, at the height of summer I was getting in much more exercise. I know when I am busy I don’t prioritise my exercise . I drank about the equivalent to three diet cokes a day and not enough water. I did wake up in the night and did get back to sleep. I worked on average 12 hours a day with little down time through the week. Not sustainable me thinks, need to rebalance. I know my pattern. So here is my pledge to self…for work life balance week..I will drink two litres of water a day, go for a run twice and cycle once, I will work less than 12 hours a day.

Head-run versus leg-run, the benefits of physical exercise on mental health: a guest blog by Wyn Jones #HWBAssociateNinja

Head-run versus leg-run, the benefits of physical exercise on mental health: a guest blog by Wyn Jones #HWBAssociateNinja

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And the winner is….. me

On the morning of 15th September 2019, I found myself with around 1,450 other people in a field in the middle of Yorkshire about to run a half marathon. Fortunately, it was a beautiful morning, but I would have run even if it was pouring with rain (honest). Many people were running with friends, running club colleagues, or were there with friends and family to cheer them on. Me, I love to run alone, music in my ear and updates from a running app through my earphone; the large crowds and large numbers of runners of the Great North Run are not for me. So why do I run? From about 8 miles onwards, believe me, it was a regular question in my mind.  

My reflections ….. one step at a time

Now having time to reflect, why do I run?  

  • Not for the glory – I am not going to win the race, or my age category.
  • I rarely run official events; I have completed 7 official runs this year out of 125 runs (according to my app)
  • Not for the camaraderie – I prefer running on my own at my own pace and with my own thoughts
  • I enjoy challenging myself 
  • I know it is easier to run when I haven’t gorged on take aways, cake, beer and I am carrying extra weight
  • Exercise helps me control my weight so I can occasionally gorge on take aways, cake, beer
  • Walking my dog is not enough to count as exercise, she stops and sniffs anything and everything
  • I get a sense of achievement from running, not the times, but just actually getting out to run. Therefore, I want to run until my legs, or a doctor, tell me physically I can’t do it anymore

Head runs verses leg runs

And yet, do I primarily run for the physical benefits? If I’m being honest with myself often, I run more often to benefit my mental health – what I call “head runs” rather than “leg runs.”

A “head run” gets me out of myself, gives me a sense of achievement and a level of confidence, even if it is a short, slow run.  Often a short, slow and frankly difficult run can give me a greater sense of achievement than one that is easy and flowing.  I can think about what is troubling me, reflect on my day, remember tasks I need to complete tomorrow all in the context of what I have learnt about resilience and problem solving and plan how to manage the tasks facing me, or just switch off. It helps me break out of the potential monotony of work, home, sleep, repeat. I must commit time to a run, so I have less time to complete other tasks, as a procrastinator, deadlines and time pressure help me get things done. I am possibly more effective with less time. 

Who knew what was possible?

In 2019 I have run four half marathons, one 10 mile and two 10 kilometre (Km) events, with three more 10 Km runs planned, before this year I had never run more than 10 Km. I have no ambition to run more than a half marathon.  I tip my hat to marathon runners; it just isn’t for me.  

Keeping on track

The social media and technology elements can be a force for good.  The app I use provides me with a lot of data which the data geek in me can analyse frequently and often – and I do like receiving and giving kudos for runs as it is great to get feedback.  Facebook alerts me to race opportunity and the social campaign for “this girl can” is a force for good and helps me think “this old bloke can” too.  

In resilience training and mental health support there is advice about noticing what negative triggers are can cause stress.  The reverse is also true, looking for positive triggers that help you physically and mentally. 

Overcoming your own personal resistance 

Now, I know running is not for everyone and I know that 15 years ago I would have totally refused to run unless it was last orders.  So, what are the positive triggers that make you feel good and help your health and wellbeing? It could be meeting with friends and family, reading a good book, listening to music, watching a play or film.  You need to be aware and “catch yourself in” the moment, not catching yourself out.  Then plan how to increase the opportunities for positive triggers. 

If you like the idea of social exercise, then I could not recommend Park Runs enough. They are not just for runners; walkers are very welcome and it’s free.  There should be one near you (in the UK). It is a 5 Km run, jog or walk on a Saturday morning, first timers are always made welcomed.  It can really set you up for the day. Having said I am an unsocial runner I really enjoy Park Run for the social element and camaraderie. 

My HWB cause… amongst many

In November, the Movember campaign will be running again.  This is an international campaign aimed at raising money and awareness for men’s health, including mental health support.  I will pass growing a Mo’ this year as I now have a beard and my wife has already suffered several Mo’s over the years.  I plan, however, to take up the run 60 Km in the month challenge (Google “Movember make your move” to find out more) and I plan to run the Leeds Movember 10 Km at Roundhay Park at the end of the month.

In conclusion find out what helps you and plan your time to invest in your health and wellbeing – because you are worth it. 

P.S. I finished the half marathon in a slower time than I hoped, but I had an enjoyable time, got a T-shirt, a medal, a chocolate bar, a bottle of water and lots of data on my app.  I am easy to please.

What can small businesses do to improve the wellbeing of their employees?

What can small businesses do to improve the wellbeing of their employees?

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At HWBInspiration we are passionate about helping organisations to keep people happy and healthy in work.  We have developed an organisational level health and wellbeing assessment framework for organisations to review how well they are creating the conditions for people to flourish at work.  We designed this framework for predominantly medium to large organisations (over 250 employees).  We have supported smaller organisations to use the framework, to identify where to start and they have found it helpful.  However, we often get asked what can smaller organisations do right now around health and wellbeing?  Our search about ‘what works for small business began by looking at the What Works Wellbeing publication on Wellbeing in Small Business.      

They talked to 6 small businesses. Each of the businesses they interviewed described interventions which can be linked to addressing some of the recognised drivers of wellbeing, principles of quality work and through improving the characteristics of what makes a good job, they also identified the challenges they faced. What Works Wellbeing have identified five drivers for wellbeing and nine characteristics that make a good job

Wellbeing drivers 

  • Health
  • Relationships
  • Security
  • Environment
  • purpose 

Characteristics that make a good job

  • Control over ones job 
  • Clarity of what is expected
  • Variety in what one does 
  • Positive relationships with managers, co-workers and customers
  • Belief that ones workplace and pay is fair 
  • Sense of personal purpose and of wider value to others
  • Opportunities to use and develop ones skills
  • Safe and pleasant work environment 
  • Supportive supervision
  • Sense of job security and clear career prospects 
  • Good work life balance 

Here is a very brief summary of what those small businesses are doing – find out more in the full publication

Relationships 

  • Monthly 10 minute 1:1’s to monitor wellbeing 
  • Encouraging regular breaks in pairs during the day
  • Quarterly outings
  • Celebrating birthdays 
  • Regular team meetings during work hours 
  • Wellbeing champion to organise events 
  • Values framework
  • Regular communication with staff 
  • Staff surveys and focus groups 

Health

  • Encourage people to take longer breaks during quieter times
  • Making time for a cuppa, playing music 
  • Promoting healthy habits 
  • Site visits by physio’s and occupational health experts 
  • Health checks 
  • Staff mentors following return to work
  • Mental health awareness 
  • Exercise classes 
  • Step counters

Purpose

  • Public recognition for staff and their achievements 
  • Engaging with the local community 
  • Opportunities for training 

Whatever size of organisation you run or work in, there are plenty of small things that can make a big difference to what people think and feel about their work environment.  Start where you can and focus on what’s important.

WORKPLACE HEALTH & WELLBEING, & COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

WORKPLACE HEALTH & WELLBEING, & COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

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Here’s how we’re getting involved (and why you should too!)

Sharing health and wellbeing wisdom

As co-founders of HWBInspiration, we enjoy being Health and Wellbeing Ninjas. We thrive on building networks and have an ambition to create a social movement that gets everyone involved in improving health and wellbeing in the workplace. Recently, we were given the chance to share our work with a wider audience and it has inspired and motivated us to continue our work. Here’s an overview of what we’ve been working on:

  • Festival of Leadership – North West Leadership Academy – March 2018 – to share our health and wellbeing ‘wisdom’, as well as celebrating leadership in health and care
  • Health and Wellbeing practitioners – development sessions – NHS Employers  – sharing the benefits of using a tool like our Health and Wellbeing Framework
  • Greater Manchester Human Resource Directors Group – developing collaborative working across health and care organisations.  Using our framework to share good practice and support organisation to compare experience
  • North West Employers Organisation – Interchange event with a Health and Wellbeing focus – sharing good practice across health and social care
  • Coming soon – HWB Squad (10 local authorities in GM) running a session in April!
  • Future – Planning to use the tool with a law firm (watch this space)!

We recently attended an event at Victoria Mills in Manchester, which was an amazing experience in how it led me to reflect on the history of health and wellbeing at work. More than 100 years ago, the Mills would have been a hive of activity, but with a workforce that had little to no access to the basic essentials of life.  Health and wellbeing at work wasn’t a key consideration for many employers at the time. That being said, there were one or two more enlightened companies who acted as early pioneers for workplace health and wellbeing, like the Cadbury brothers. They set a precedent by investing in infrastructure to keep their most valuable asset, the people, as happy and healthy as possible through housing, education and more.

Today we have entirely different working environments; demands and expectations have changed.  That means that keeping people healthy, well, and in work continues to be important from a wellbeing and economic perspective, but the way in which we can achieve wellbeing in work is changing too. To identify the best course of action, we need to open up the workplace health and wellbeing discussion and tackle it together.

Over the next 12 months we would like to continue to contribute to the health and wellbeing social movement.  We will be focusing on:

  • How can we build communities of practice (more about this below) so that health and wellbeing becomes everyone’s business – i.e. fostering co-design and co-production?
  • How can we learn from others?
  • How can we understand the impact of working in a more distributed/virtual way?
  • How do we use the paradigm of ‘New Power’ so that people get involved, suggest ideas, and make positive health and wellbeing choices?

Is a ‘community of practice’ the answer?

‘Communities of practice’ – the notion of building a community of people working towards the same goal, to learn from one another as they work towards it (in this case, improving workplace health and wellbeing) – is something we’re really taken by, and on a personal level I’m loosely connected to a few. They reflect the innately social nature of human learning, and this sense of community is something I believe can only benefit the HWB movement.

In 2013, National Voices secured funding to use communities of practice to facilitate learning on a number of generated health and wellbeing priorities.  The programme, ‘Wellbeing Our Way’ ran for 3 years and National Voices released a full report of its findings.

The report is a compelling read and explains in more detail the hows, whats, and whys of commities of practice. It’s also full of ‘top tips’, tools, techniques, and other fantastic ideas! Here’s a snippet that stuck with me; “community is a place where people come together to share problems, solutions and stories. Community is where magic happens. We are recognising this in the world of health and care, where we are increasingly joining up care systems to meet people’s needs in local communities and places. Communities of practice are a learning and sharing version of community. We can apply the same principles of shared purpose, sense of belonging and community spirit. Where we do this well, communities of practice can ignite an unstoppable energy for change.”

Similarly, I was also lucky enough to be involved with the North West Leadership Academy’s research into communities of practice, and their final report is equally as enlightening!

What else have we done already?

We are already circulating a digital toolkit – HWBInspiration framework – to help organisations assess and improve their workplace health and wellbeing. If you’re interested in seeing how your organisation performs, and identifying areas for improvement, get in touch to request a copy!

We also have a wide range of practical case studies that we have secured from organisations that don’t have time to share themselves. Take a peek – they’re a great place to start if you’re thinking of joining the workplace health and wellbeing movement.

What’s next for us?

At HWBInspiration, our personal mission is to:

  • Continue to contribute to the health and wellbeing movement and its ‘body of knowledge’, with a focus on communities of practice
  • Share what we’ve discovered from our research in the field of health and wellbeing
  • Share findings from the work that we did in Manchester
  • Develop our ideas to use our HWBInspiration framework toolkit so that we help organisations to create and maintain the conditions to keep people healthy, well, and in work through communities of practice
  • Find ways to help everyone to get involved in health and wellbeing activities that keep us all healthy, well, and in work

Why should you get involved?

  • Keeping people healthy, well and in work makes societal and economic sense
  • Will lead to employers and workers coming together and thinking about how to create the ‘best’ conditions so that people have a sense of belonging, value, and contribution
  • Any organisation, large or small, would benefit from using a tool to ensure that it has the most helpful policies, structures and practices to ensure that work fulfilling and purposeful

How can you get involved?

  • Share your ideas, stories and solutions with a wider audience (starting with us!) Tweet us at @hwbinspiration or email us at hwbinspiration@outlook.com
  • Request a copy of our framework to assess your organisation’s workplace health and wellbeing culture
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5 WAYS TO BECOME A HEALTH & WELLBEING NINJA

5 WAYS TO BECOME A HEALTH & WELLBEING NINJA

Posted on by hwbinspiration

It’s a fascinating thought that employers and the workplace can have an impact on an individual’s health and wellbeing.  It’s not where I would naturally start; personally, I usually come from a perspective that we take responsibility for our own health and wellbeing.  “It’s down to me surely in relation to the choices that I make!”, “It’s a bit of a ‘nanny state’ when it comes to my manager casting judgement about my health and wellbeing – what I do in my personal time is my business”.

These might be views that you/employers/others express or believe.  However, there is a compelling case for why it’s in all our interests for all of us to take an interest in workplace health and wellbeing.  Here are just a few national statistics:

  • Sick people cost their employer £620,000 per year in businesses employing more than 500 people.8
  • Similarly, a Department of Work and Pensions report9 stated that more than 130 million days (Office of National Statistics) are still being lost to sickness absence every year in Great Britain and working-age ill health costs the national economy £100 billion a year.
  • The same report estimates that employers face a yearly bill of around £9 billion for sick pay and associated costs, with individuals missing out on £4 billion a year in lost earnings. Meanwhile, around 300,000 people a year fall out of work and into the welfare system because of health-related issues.
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers10 estimate the cost to be even higher, at an average of 9.1 days of absence per UK worker, costing UK business nearly £29bn a year.
  • The Centre for Mental Health11 estimated in 2007 that the total cost to employers of mental distress and ill health in the workforce is estimated at nearly £26 billion each year. That is equivalent to £1,035 for every employee in the UK workforce.

“That’s great, but what does this mean for me?” I hear you ask. “What makes you an expert?” All legitimate and I guess my interest was piqued because of a project that I was involved in over the past year in Manchester. If you want to find out more click here.

How can I become a Ninja?

When I was thinking about writing this blog, I reminded myself that we all need to have knowledge, skills and expertise to support each other in our health and wellbeing endeavour.  When I think someone has mastered a particular mind set or skill, for some reason a have an image of a Ninja in my head and was delighted to see that the informal definition of Ninja is “a person who excels in a particular skill or activity.

So, with the help of my co Ninja we have come up with some very practical ways that you can apply Health and Wellbeing Activities in the work place.

TipMe (Ninja)My teamMy manager/organisation
1Find your healthily work life blend and take breaksEncourage the team to discuss their work life blend, have lunch together, scrutinise all the meetings the team attendsRole model good management practice – take breaks, avoid sending e-mails ‘out of hours’ or let people know that you don’t expect a response ‘out of hours’
2Avoid presenteeism (coming to work when unwell)Discuss what presenteeism means as a teamMake it clear that you expect people to stay at home when they are unwell (that it’s not a badge of honour to come to work when you are unwell)Review sickness absence policies to support people to return to work
3Develop health and wellbeing objectives for yourselfSupport colleagues with positive HWB behaviours by developing team health and wellbeing objectivesBuild in time to discuss health and wellbeing – simply ask how people are and celebrate positive health and wellbeing behaviours
4Be active, use the stairs, move around from your desk, use apps to encourage you to get up and walkHave team meetings standing up or while walking, pedometer challengesDevelop options to support people to be active at work such as walking groups, running groups, football teams, cycle schemes
5Keep yourself healthy and ask for help when you need itEncourage the team to ask each other for help when they need it and how to support each other when specialist help may be neededEnsure that people have access to excellent occupational health, rapid access to counselling, physio, GP onsite, MOT’s

If you are interested to find out more, email us at HWBInspiration@outlook.com, join our LinkedIn group, follow us on twitter @HWBInspiration, or look through some of our case studies.

– Su Fowler-Johnson, co-founder of HWB Inspiration.